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Stepping Up | Habs Notepad

Chris G
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Stepping Up | Habs Notepad
Michael Pezzetta, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, Jean-Francois Houle, Cole Caufield, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

Michael Pezzetta, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Toronto Maples Leafs on Saturday in the third game of their five-game homestand. Early signs pointed that it would be a long night for the Canadiens as the Maple Leafs needed 53 seconds to take the lead. It was the 12th time in the last 13 games that Montreal has allowed the first goal.

The Canadiens were down 2-0 through 20 minutes before Josh Anderson extended his scoring streak to three games and put his team on the board and Rafael Harvey-Pinard tied it later in the second period. Rem Pitlick completed the comeback with the overtime winner 2:14 for the 3-2 victory.

“I had no problem with the first 10 minutes of the first period. In the last 10 minutes, mistakes cost us a goal. We spoke about that in the first intermission, and we continued moving ahead. Saturday night at the Bell Centre against Toronto is something that brings confidence to the group and I’m happy for the boys,” coach Martin St. Louis said.

The coach was happy about the effort brought by the players. “If I look through the lineup, I can’t find one player that didn’t give us everything.”

Praise for Rocket Callups

Harvey-Pinard’s goal was his second career NHL goal in his seventh game. His first goal was scored last season in Tampa Bay.

“I’m happy for him. On the ice, he has habits of a NHL player. He’s not afraid to go to the places where it’s not physically easy. He’s not a big player, but he competes. You can trust him on both sides of the ice. I’m happy he was rewarded,” St. Louis said. Harvey-Pinard received time on the penalty kill in the last two games.

On Saturday, the players recently recalled from Laval were key to the victory. Pitlick, Harvey-Pinard, and Alex Belzile collected four points in total.

“They played an excellent game. I tip my hat to Jean-Francois Houle and his coaching staff because all the players that we recalled have helped us advance the train,” St.Louis said. “When the players come here, they bring something to the team. They’re not just patching holes. All the guys that we have called up, I’ve been happy with.”

Caufield Shut Down

The Canadiens shocked the hockey world on Saturday morning when they announced that Cole Caufield will undergo surgery on his right surgery in the near future that will end his season.

St. Louis said that the forward was hurt earlier in the season and was playing through the injury. Caufield was evaluated after every game and information received on Friday led to the decision to shut him down.

“It’s been two or three months that the injury has been bothering him and he was not at 100 percent,” Caufield’s agent Pat Brisson told TVA Sports. The decision was made in the interest of the 22-year old’s future.

“It’s not hurting him too much, but we wanted to do prevention so that it wouldn’t get worse and miss the start of next season. We are 99.9 percent convinced that the surgery will go well and that he will be able to come back for training camp next year.”

Josh Anderson has had left shoulder surgery in the past and gave his teammate some encouragement. “I told that when I got operated on that my left shoulder feels stronger than my right. He liked hearing that part and I’m still confident that he’s still going to score more than he has today.

Brisson confirmed that contract negotiations began about a month ago and have been positive. Negotiations will continue between both parties despite the long term injury.

St. Louis said that the team collectively will need to replace Caufield’s offensive production but that is not what will be missed the most. “The most important thing that Cole brings that we need to replace is not his goals. It’s his enthusiasm.”

Rocket Face Conference Leaders

The Laval Rocket hosted the top two teams of the Eastern Conference on the weekend. On Friday, Laval trailed 2-0 to Hershey through 20 minutes before tying it in the second period. The winner was determined when Joel Teasdale recorded his second career AHL hat trick to give Laval 3-2 win.

“I thought we played really well. We got them on their heels in the second period. We had a lot of guys stepping up,” Houle said. The coach was also pleased with the power play as all three goals were scored with the man advantage.

On Saturday, Laval trailed two different times during their match and Anthony Richard‘s 20th of the season with 5:09 remaining forced overtime. The Marlies needed the shootout to seal the 4-3 victory.

“Right now, our top four players are up with the Montreal Canadiens and we have significant injuries, but the guys are rallying and the guys that are asked to fill in are giving everything they have and that’s all we want. It gives us an opportunity to see other players. We’re a hard working team and I’m really proud of our players,” Houle said.

By collecting seven of eight points in the last four games, Laval has slipped back into a playoff spot. The Rocket needs to continue collecting the majority of the points in the standings as the next 14 games are against division rivals beginning on Wednesday against the Belleville Senators.

Lions Slump Continues

The Trois-Rivieres Lions hosted the Adirondack Thunder on Friday at Colisee Videotron. The Lions has a 2-1 lead midway through the second period when the Thunder answered back with three consecutive goals before the intermission. Trois-Rivieres made it a one-goal game in the third period but were not able to tie it before Adirondack added two empty net goals to win 6-3.

“We were leading 2-1 at the start of the second period. Our indiscipline hurt us. They found a way to hurt us. They picked up the pace and it got more complicated from there. This is the highest total of shots we have given up in a very long time. It was surprising to see their number of shots. It was a bit of a weird game,” interim coach and general manager Marc-Andre Bergeron said.

Trois-Rivieres headed to Worcester to face the Railers on Sunday. Worcester got on the board with two goals in the first two minutes of the match and Trois-Rivieres trailed for the rest of the game and extended their losing streak to seven games with a 3-2 loss.

“We had a bad start to the game. I find that we have not been as diligent as needed in our system. It was not at the expected level, and it cost us two goals. In the second and third period, we were the best team on the ice. It’s unfortunate, because it’s a loss that hurts,” Bergeron said.

The Lions host the Reading Royals on Wednesday at Colisee Videotron.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)

Listen to the Canadiens Connection podcast

We discuss Cole Caufield‘s injury and his contract negotiations. We also do a deep dive on Kent Hughes‘ State of the Canadiens presser.

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
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